Test systems for detecting monkeypox will be ready for use in Belarus by mid-June, according to Alexander Tarasenko, the country’s Deputy Health Minister and Chief State Sanitary Doctor.
The National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology is developing the test systems, according to BELTA News Agency.
If testing is required before the end of June, the biomaterial will be sent to Russia’s State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector. The Xinhua news agency quoted Tarasenko as saying.
Epidemiologists are concerned about monkeypox cases in Europe, according to the Deputy Health Minister, because the epidemic, which was previously recorded in Central and West Africa, has now spread to other parts of the world.
However, Tarasenko stated that the risk of bringing the infection into Belarus is minimal, and that the Health Ministry has strengthened border control measures.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that primarily occurs in tropical rainforest areas of central and western Africa, but is occasionally exported to other areas. According to the WHO, multiple cases of monkeypox were identified in several non-endemic countries in May 2022.
